The United States of America (USA) government under the administration of Donald Trump is ending Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students by revoking its Student and Exchange Visitor Programme certification.
Penpushing reports that the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Neom, in a post on X, on Thursday accused the school of fostering an unsafe campus environment, hostility to Jewish students, support for Hamas, and what she described as racist DEI initiatives.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in same vein, attributed the revocation to the university’s refusal to comply with its requests for the behavioural records of student visa holders.
“Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country. This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus’, Neom said.
“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enrol foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunities to do the right thing. It refused’, she stated.
‘They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country’, the statement added
“As a result of your brazen refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas rhetoric, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies, you have lost this privilege,” she wrote.
Penpushing further reports that Noem in the letter to University however, offered the institution 72 hours to provide the information requested for an opportunity to regain its visa programme for the next school year.
The Ivy League university, in a statement, denounced the allegations, describing them as retaliatory action that threatens its community, however, it reaffirmed its commitment to campus safety, academic freedom, and support for all students, regardless of background or nationality.
“We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University – and this nation – immeasurably’, the statement reads
“We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission’, it added
Penpushing also reports that this new policy could affect thousands of international students, some of whom are Nigerians, currently studying at the institution, pursuing degrees across various disciplines
The record has it that Nigerians make up nearly one-quarter of the black students at the Harvard Business School, which findings equally showed that the Ivy League institution has so far enrolled about 6,793 international students.
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